Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Educating debate

It looks like you need a college education to understand the debate over college student loan interest.

Junior Senator Scott Brown took time out from his search for Native-Americans at Harvard to author a truly acrobatic one-day flip-flop -- voting with fellow Republicans to defeat a proposal to keep interest on college student loans low before turning around and proposing a bill to keep interest on college student loans low.

Ow my head hurts!

Brown is proposing the lower interest rates be paid by using money the government already has but mistakenly spends, an amorphous pool he says amounts to $115 billion and includes money sent to the wrong recipient, incorrect amounts, and improperly disbursed funds.

One unanswered question: if it's already been spent how can you spend it again?

This is newfound fiscal responsibility among a party that did not think twice in spending trillions on two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor did it bat an eye on giving away trillions more to millionaires and billionaires in the form of tax breaks that were supposed to help the "job creators."

Rather, the GOP is now banded together against college students and their parents, playing a game of high stakes chicken with the resources they will need to afford higher education.

Could that be because polls show that the higher a voter's education level, the less likely they are to vote Republican -- unless they are among those in tax-favored groups?

Brown cultivates an image of an average Joe looking out for the average man and woman. A careful review of his voting record will reveal the opposite: a man who has consistently sides with the financial services industry and against homeowners and parents trying to make ends meet and attain a better life with a nice home and a good education.